I love lamp. Orange, Cherry, Blueberry, Apple – it doesn’t matter. I can eat it! Or…compost it. How incredible is that? And, if I’m especially hungry, I can take a nibble of my edible iPhone case. You don’t like rice crackers, you say? Try this.
It appears that there is a new movement in tech consumption in the most literal way. Technology and the food industry are joining forces to address larger issues of waste reduction, food supply and health (aside from the novelty/grossness that is a gummy iPhone case).
Source: ThinkGeek
Last week there was a conference hosted in part by Food+Tech Connect, Hack // Meat, which brought together technologists and food industry executives to discuss innovative ideas on creating a more sustainable future of meat production. These ideas are mostly based around increasing the effectiveness of communication throughout the meat supply chain, resulting in a more cost-effective and profitable business. The centerpiece competition in the conference, called the “meat hackathon,” brought teams of participants together to create ideas in a 48 hour timeframe. The 1st place prize went to a team of innovators who called themselves ‘CARV,’ creating the idea for …”an internet-enabled scale and label printer that captures and manages data about individual cuts of meat, which can be converted into reports and invoices for anyone in the value chain, including USDA and FSIS (Food Safety Inspection Service).” Another top winner, team ‘Meat,’ proposed integrating with the Foursquare API to align consumer demand for specific meat products with the grocery store supply, and notifications of availability and stock would be sent out per each request.
WikiCell is jumping on the food tech train by introducing edible packaging for everyday foods like juice, yogurt, ice cream and fruit using natural ingredients. This edible ‘skin’ is made up of small particles of chocolate, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, or other natural substances held together by calcium or magnesium ions and alginate. Couple this with compostable outer packaging (i.e. box that the yogurt ball comes in) and you have an earth-friendly, technologically-driven treat.
Source: Slate.com
Perhaps we in the digital industry can add to this type of efficiency by being more direct and relevant with our product offerings and hence reduce waste (hey, maybe not literally, but still waste reduction!). That, or Booyah! can order up some of these chairs. Mmmmmm….techy goodness.
